An excellent recounting of Ziva becoming the new and improved Ziva. As much as Saleem, Eli also tried to destroy Ziva. Saleem is dead physically and Eli is dead to her emotionally. I have always wondered if he was really her father.

Xoxo chapter 7 . 1/27/2013

Omg you should write more. :D I really really love this story and this should get more reviews :) Love how you write about Ziva and how she tries to cope after Somalia; how the team supported her and made her feel home.

Guest chapter 7 . 10/3/2012

Deep, powerful, complex, emotive writing. Really well done. Love the pranks! Just one thing to watch out for - from time to time you miss a word out mid-sentence.

"...paid employee she needed to vacate the Navy lodging." It is actually called the Navy Lodge. There is one at every Navy installation. Some are fairly large and seem like luxury hotels. Others are relatively small and are much like a mom and pop rural motel. Hers a link to the Navy Lodge facebook page: NavyLodge.

Not sure why the LT (ltjvt1026) didn't clue me in to your stories long ago - guess I'll have to pick that bone with him, though. Anyway, good chapter. I like the dialog. Think you've got Ziva down pat. Maybe a little too wordy with Gibbs, but there are damn few writers who can write him as the functional mute. And I do understand that for this chapter, he needed to speak the words - and probably would have. We know he can as referenced in Bounce.

Re-reading this again, and I just wanted to say that I love how you made Ziva stayed in the Navy lodge for a while before having to move out and find her own place. I think it is more realistic, and the fact that when she moved to her new apartment, she had very few possessions. Seeing how Eli was, I can totally believe that he would actually freeze her bank accounts, forcing her to deal on her own and manipulating her into thinking that she needs him. Then you gave her a decent amount of time before she moved to a nicer apartment. :)

The team trying to help her out by getting her a car was really nice. It's help that is no doubt well-meant, but not too much that she would have a problem with it. She accepts it because she knows they care.

I love Ziva, and I enjoyed your exploration of how she might have felt early season 7.

I just wanted to say how much I'm enjoying this story. It's been very well written. I love that Gibbs is concerned without being too paternal and the scene with Ducky was sweet. The only thing that has really taken away from it for me was Ziva's football explanation, it's a great way to describe why she reacted the way she did, but Offsides is defense, when its the Offense it's a false start.

I reviewed this the other day and told you how much I liked it, but upon rereading it, I remembered my one big problem with it. You switch tenses several times throughout the fic. You start off present tense, then switch to past tense, and go back and forth in Gibbs' thoughts. I don't know if it continues all through the whole fic, I'm only to chapter two in my reread, but the first two chapters do quite a bit of it. But you still do a great job of getting into their brains. :)

Very nicely done. I liked seeing how Gibbs processed Ziva's actions, and how Tony processed them, and hen how Ziva figured it out. It makes so much sense that it would take time for her to recover, and she's going to need to have some extra help and supervision, even if she doesn't want it. I don't know how to say what I mean, but I really liked everyone's thought process and how it all worked out. And I loved the pranking going on in the background of the story- very NCIS-ish. :)

This is an excellent story, i love the team dynamic and the way they would all try to help each other out - i think its really in character and really sweet at the same time.

Love it! Thanks for uploading!

Alize chapter 7 . 12/19/2009

You've probably read my other reviews by now, jaelke, but I'd like to add that I am amazed by how deep your characters are; I'd say thick, but I'm pretty sure "épaisseur" doesn't translate litteraly... I stick with it though, 'thick' describes the complexity and multi-layered nature of the characters much better than 'deep'. I mean, something can be deep but empty, right? And your characters are anything but deep Jaelke!

I especially like the fact that you allowed Ziva to stay strong, albeit in a changed and unfamiliar way. I find that a lot of stories have her collapsing in a helpless,useless mess after Somalia, only to be rescued from her psychological miseries by an all too perfect Tony (and, let's be honest, we all love that kind of fluff once in a while!). I enjoyed your allowing her to retain her dignity, while not minimising the consequences of her ordeal, making her a character that I do not pity but admire, a character in complete continuity with the rest of her story and not one that an author has to break to bend their way.

So, once and for all, may I just say: WOW! I've been reading your work all afternoon, and have had an amazing time. Thank you.